Thursday, 24 March 2016

Basta

“I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness.” These are the words of Émile Zola in his attacks on the French state in 1898, when they imprisoned Alfred Dreyfus. We need a new Zola. There is too much suffering on the part of a humanity entitled to happiness. Neither truth nor the security of the people are any more important to our states now than they were when Zola wrote. For the French, the Belgiums, the British, the Germans, all that matters are the bulging pockets of the 1%. If that means bombs at home and wars abroad, so be it. Saudi Arabia sits at the centre of the death cults fomenting Isis, Daesh or whatever name they currenly use. What is the response of our states? For the French it is the Légion d'honneur for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, awarded him just days before the Brussels bombings. For the UK it is £6 billion in arms sales to the Saudis since Cameron came to power. Over 3,000 people have been killed with these weapons in Yemen alone, including many children. For Brussels it means sitting at the centre of a European administration which has set out to close its borders to those fleeing this creeping Armageddon. Bombs at home, wars abroad and doors closed on its victjms while opened ever wider to racism, Islamophobia and fascism. Enough, c'est assez, genug, basta, ¡Basta ya!¡ genoeg